Transcript Buddhism

An Introduction to Buddhism
RMNI.org
Jim Sutherland, PhD, Director
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World Religions by Percentage and
Size of World Population--2009
World Religions by Percentage
World Religions by Population
Christians 33%
Christians
2,271,727,000
Muslims 21%
Muslims
1,449,614,000
Hindus 13%
Hindus
913,455,000
Nonreligious 11%
Nonreligious
773,947,000
Chinese universists
6%
Buddhists 6%
Chinese universists
388,609,000
Buddhists
387,872,000
Ethnoreligionists 4%
Ethnoreligionists
266,281,000
Atheists 2%
Atheists
148,346,000
Other 3%
Other
228,306,000
David Barrett, Todd M. Johnson & Peter Crossing, “Christian World Communions: Five Overviews of
Global Christianity, AD 1800-2025,” Int’l Bulletin of Missionary Research, Jan. 2009, Global Table 5, p. 25.
Major Religion Numerical Growth:
by Birth and by Conversion, 2005
Hindus
Natural
Increase
per year
(sum)
13,120,170
Buddhists 3,166,543
Conversion
increase
per year
(sum)
-510,255
Total
increase
per year
(sum)
12,609,915
3,048,352
6,214,895
Significant
conversion growth
Christians
22,843,921 5,907,725
World Christian Database, 2005
28,751,647
Percentages of World Population:
Hindu, Buddhist & Christian--2009
Annual percentage
growth rates as of
2009
Hindu
1.35 per annum
Percent of world Percent of world
population 2009 population 2025
(est.)
13.4
13.6
Buddhist
.73 per annum
5.7
Christian (all groups) 33.3
1.32 per annum
5.5
33.9
David Barrett, Todd M. Johnson & Peter Crossing, “Christian World Communions: Five Overviews of
Global Christianity, AD 1800-2025,” Int’l Bulletin of Missionary Research, Jan. 2009, Global Table 5, p. 25.
Hindu
majority
Buddhist
majority
5
Buddhism
6
There are approximately 388 million Buddhists
globally, as of mid-2009. In 2005 there were
approximately 2.8 million in the USA.
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Siddhartha Gautama
• He was born in 563 BC north of Benares, India,
into the Sakya clan and lived in a palace given him
by his father, marrying his cousin. His father
intentionally sheltered him from seeing suffering,
but one day, on the way to the Royal Park, he saw
a begging monk, a sick man, an old man and dead
man. These scenes so shook him that the rest of
his life was devoted to discovering and
proclaiming the way to avoid suffering.
– He was 29 when he resolved to forever leave his wife
and young son (Ruhula-”Fetter”) and slip into the jungle
to find answers to the problem of pain. “Buddhism,” David BentleyTaylor and Clark B. Offner, ch. 5 in The World’s Religions, Sir Norman Anderson, Ed., ISBN:
0802816363, p. 170-71.
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Paths to Enlightenment
• Having lived in luxury, he for six years tried to find
the solution to suffering first through submitting to
the teachings of two Brahmin priests, without help,
then through extreme asceticism. He found, after
almost dying from starvation, that such severe
treatment of his body left him not more enlightened,
but in a state of mental and physical exhaustion.
– He renounced asceticism and near the town of Gaya,
India, he vowed to sit beneath a fig tree until he came to
solve the problem of suffering. While the length of time
that he remained there is disputed (1-49 days), when he
arose, he believed that he had achieved Buddhahood or
enlightenment. Bentley-Taylor, p. 171.
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The Middle Path
• “These two extremes, monks, are not to be
practiced by one who has gone forth from the
world. What are the two? That conjoined with the
passions and luxury, low vulgar, common,
ignoble, and useless; and that conjoined with
self-torture, painful, ignoble, and useless.
Avoiding these two extremes the Tathagata ( the
Buddha) has gained the enlightenment of the Middle
Path, which produces insight and knowledge,
and tends to calm, to higher knowledge,
enlightenment, Nirvana.” “The Sermon at Benares” --Buddha 10
The Middle Path
• Having lived both in self-indulgence and self-denial,
he set out upon the “middle path” between those
extremes. He traveled to Benares and offered these
Four Noble Truths:
– (1 “Now this, monks, is the noble truth of pain: birth is
painful, old age is painful, sickness is painful, death is
painful, sorrow, lamentation, dejection and despair are
painful. Contact with unpleasant things is painful, not getting
what one wishes is painful. In short, the five groups of
grasping are painful.” “The Sermon at Benares,” The Teachings of the Compassionate
Buddha,” E.A. Burt, Ed., Mentor Books, 1955, p. 30.
– (2 “Now this, monks, is the noble truth of the cause of pain:
the craving, which tends to rebirth, combined with pleasure
and lust, finding pleasure here and there; namely the craving
for passion, the craving for existence, the craving for non11
existence.”
Noble Truths 3 & 4
• (3 “Now this, monks, is the noble truth of the
cessation of pain…” [It can cease.]
• (4 “Now this, monks, is the noble truth of the way that
leads to the cessation of pain: this is the noble
Eightfold Way; namely, right views, right intention,
right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort,
right mindfulness, right concentration.”
– “Being a philosopher as well as a great spiritual pioneer,
Buddha discarded all claims to special revelation and all
appeals to authority or tradition. He found his standard of
truth, and his way of discriminating it from error, in the
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common reason and experience of men as they can be
brought to bear on the universal problem of life.” E.A. Burtt, p. 27
The Eightfold Path
A. (Wisdom- “Panna”)
1. “Right views”
1. “Anatta”—there is no “self” or “atman”
2. All is an illusion (“maya”)
2. “Right intention”
1. “renouncing lust, ill-will and cruelty” Bentley-Taylor, p. 172-173
2. “renounce all attachment to the desires and thoughts
of our illusory selves” Halverson, p. 58.
3. “Let therefore no man love anything; loss of the
beloved is evil. Those who love nothing and hate
nothing have no fetters.” Noss and Noss, p. 120
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B. (Ethical Conduct- “Sila”)
3. “Right speech”
 Five taboos: (1 taking of life- “ahimsa”
[“himsa” is sacrifice, in the Vedas] (2 stealing
(3 immorality (4 lying (5 no inebriant Halverson, p.
59
4. “Right action”
5. “Right livelihood” (no luxury)
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C. (Mental Discipline- “Samadhi”) “While
morality forms the basis of the higher life,
wisdom completes it.” (Buddhist saying)
6. “Right effort” –suppressing evil, overcoming
evil, meditation toward “universal love”
How can you love without attachment? It is love of
people in general, not as individuals. Noss, p. 123
7. “Right mindfulness” –contemplation upon the
brevity of life, upon feelings, upon the mind
and upon that which gives control over our
thinking
8. “Right concentration” “one-pointedness of
thought” (Overall 3-part division and commentary from Bentley-Taylor, p. 173) 15
The Ten Fetters
1. Belief in our individuality
2. Doubt
3. Believing that sacrifice and ritual will save
4. Impure desire
5. Anger
6. Desire for rebirth in a world of form
7. Desire for rebirth in a world without form
8. Arrogance
9. Spiritual pride
10. Ignorance
If these are broken, arahatship and Nirvana are attained.
Noss, p. 121
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Truth
• Buddha said: “Thus, monks, among
doctrines unheard before, in me sight and
knowledge arose, wisdom arose, knowledge
arose, light arose.” “The Sermon at Benares”
Burtt, p. 30
– “Apart from consciousness, no diverse truths
exist. –Mere sophistry declares this ‘true,’ and
that view ‘false.’” from the Sutta-Nipata Burtt, p. 38
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Departure from Hinduism
• Buddha rejected the Vedas as the source
of truth.
• He refused to sacrifice to the gods, as
enjoined by the Vedas.
• He did not go to the Brahmin priests.
• Therefore Buddhism is considered by
Hindus to be a heresy. Noss and Noss, p. 115.
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Buddhist Scriptures
• The early Buddhist canon is called the Tripitaka (or
“three baskets”).
– Vinaya Pitaka (monastic rules), Sutta Pitaka (discourses
primarily of Buddha, with five sub-divisions), and
Abhadhamma Pitaka (supplemental doctrine). Noss, p. 127
– They were written several hundred years after Buddha’s
death at approximately 483 BC.
– It contains what is supposed to be the teachings of Buddha,
including instructions to monks, sermons and philosophical
treatises. It’s eleven times the size of the Christian Bible.
(Bentley-Taylor, p. 170)
– The Vedas are not a source of authority in Buddhism.
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Some Early Buddhist Doctrines
• Brahman-- “As marking the goal of the religious
quest, Brahman is transformed rather than
rejected: that goal is entrance into Nirvana
instead of union with Brahman.” Burtt, p. 19
• Nirvana—A person achieving right
concentration will not be subject to tanha
(demandingness) but will achieve liberation and
enlightenment and enter Nirvana--“a state
marked by…a sense of liberation, inward peace
and strength, insight into truth, the joy of
complete oneness with reality, and love toward
all creatures in the universe.” Burtt, p. 29
– The goal is to finally escape life.
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• Anatta--There is no self, no ego, no individual
identity or reality.
– “Nirvana is, but not the man who seeks it. The
path exists, but not the traveler on it.”
Visuddhimagga 16, in Bentley-Taylor, p. 176
• Samsara—The succession of rebirths is not
continued through the “atman” or soul, since there
was none to Buddah, but is simply the engine of
karma.
• Karma— As in Hinduism, the law of moral cause
and effect, from one life to the next.
• Dharma– “The way that man should follow in
order to fulfill his true nature and carry out his
moral and social responsibilities.” Burtt, p. 19
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So far, Theravada (Hinayana)
Buddhism has been
described.
This is also known as Southern
Buddhism, since it is found primarily in
Southeast Asia—Thailand, Burma,
Cambodia and Laos.
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Mahayana Buddhism
• This is known as the “greater way,” and as
Northern Buddhism, since it is found in Burma and
Nepal, as well as in East Asia—Vietnam, China,
Taiwan and Japan.
• The Chinese canon of Mahayana Buddhism has
approximately 5,000 volumes.
– Among the more influential writings are the Diamond
Sutra, the Lankavatara Sutra, The Lotus of the Perfect
Law, the Surangama Sutra, the Sukhavati-Vyuha Sutra
and the Awakening of Faith. Burtt, p. 126
• Theravada Buddhism was given to monks, but
Mahayana Buddhism has broader appeal.
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Distinctives of Mahayana
Buddhism
• Clark Offner notes these:
– Belief in an Absolute reality or Supreme Being to which one may
pray.
– A pantheistic worldview
– Existence of an individual soul that can pass through heavens and
hells
– The Buddha was himself deified. Buddha was considered by some
to be only one manifestation of the True Buddha, and that all
persons are potentially Buddhas.
– Salvation may be universal and people are not under the law of
karma.
– Instead of the “arhat” (“worthy one”) is the “bodhisattva”—one who
foregoes Nirvana to enable others to reach it.
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Mahayana Distinctives
• Worship in temples and sacrifice
• Syncretism—joining elements of different
religions
• Chanting
–
Bentley-Taylor –C. Offner, p. 181-83.
• Buddha put compassion above personal
salvation. Mahayana doctrine came in the
first century BC. (Noss, p. 147-48)
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Why is Mahayana Different?
• They teach progressive revelation—that Buddha could only
teach what his disciples were able to understand. Mahayana
doctrine is the most complete enlightenment.
• “The dull, who delight in petty rules, Who are greedily attached
to mortality, Who have not, under countless Buddhas, Walked
the profound and mystic Way, Who are harassed by all the
sufferings—To these I (at first) preach Nirvana. Such is the
expedient I employ To lead them to Buddha-wisdom. Not yet
could I say to them, ‘You all shall attain to Buddhahood,’ For
the time had not yet arrived. But now the very time has come
And I must preach the Great Vehicle.”
– Lotus Sutra (Burtt, p. 142).
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Three Kinds of Buddhas
• Manushi Buddhas
– Saviors who have come to earth—Gautauma in history,
and Maitreya—a future savior.
– They do not hear prayer.
• Bodhisattvas
– In Chinese and Japanese conceptions, they postpone
Nirvana for the sake of those needing their merit to
enter Nirvana. They hear prayer.
• Dhyani Buddhas (“contemplative Buddhas”)
– They achieved Buddhahood in the heavens, rather than
as people, and serve human need. Amitabha Buddha of
the Pure Land is one. (Noss, pp. 144-45)
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Bodhisattvas—Many Deliverers
• “At all costs I must bear the burdens of all beings. In that I do
not follow my own inclinations. I have made the vow to save all
beings. All beings I must set free. The whole world of living
beings I must rescue, from the terrors of birth, of old age, of
sickness, of death and rebirth, of all kinds of moral offence, of
all states of woe, of the whole cycle of birth-and-death, of the
jungle of false views, of the loss of wholesome dharmas, of the
concomitants of ignorance, --from all these terrors I must
rescue all beings…I will experience in all the states of woe,
found in any world system, all the abodes of suffering. And I
must not cheat all beings out of my store of merit.” Burtt, p. 133
• This is an acute lack of understanding of personal sinfulness
and even megalomania.
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Schools of Mahayana
Buddhism
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Some Early Schools
• Yogacara (Mind Only—300 AD)
– Nothing exists independently, but only as
thoughts in our mind.
– The ultimate reality is the Void and the goal is to merge
with it through yoga, and non-thought. Noss, p. 149-150
• Tantric Buddhism (after 200 AD)
– The best way to experience Voidness is not written, but
is mediated through a guru and the use of magic,
(including mantras and casting spells), dancing, eating
proscribed foods, and ritual sex. Noss, p. 150
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Chinese and Japanese Schools
of Mahayana Buddhism
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“Pure Land” Buddhism
• Their doctrines seem very close to that of
Christianity.
– They teach a simple way to salvation—to
have faith in Amida Buddha, a bodhisattva
who renounced Nirvana if all who had faith in
him would be able to enter.
– Adherents simply have to repeat a praise to
this deity and then live a life of good deeds.
– It teaches the sinfulness of people and
salvation by the grace of Amida Buddha.
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Offner, p. 185-86
“Pure Land” Buddhism
• “Because of my Vow that if they should not be born
[in the Pure Land] I will not attain enlightenment.”
When the right moment for faith arises, joy is
instantly felt, and rebirth is definitely confirmed,
once for all.” Burtt, p. 221
• “Shinran’s Songs to Amida”
“Nothing can be compared to His Pure Light;
The result of encountering this Light
Destroys all karma bondage:
So take refuge in Him who is the Ultimate Haven.”
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Burtt, p. 219
“Pure Land” Buddhism
• “Honen’s Letter and Poems”
“There are indeed many Pure Lands in the ten
quarters of the universe, but we seek for the
Pure Land in the West, because it is in this one
that all sentient being, who have committed the
ten evil deeds and the five deadly sins can find
Ojo [birth in Pure Land]. The reason why we give
ourselves up to Amida alone among all the
Buddhas, is that He welcomes those who have
repeated His sacred name, even three or five
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times.” Burtt, p. 213
“Pure Land” Buddhism
• “The Pure Land of Amitabha”
“This world…which is the world system of the Lord
Amitabha, is rich and prosperous, comfortable, fertile,
delightful, and crowded with many Gods and men. And in
this world system, Ananda, there are no hells, no animals,
no ghosts, no Asuras, and none of the inauspicious places
of rebirth.” Burtt, p. 207
• “And nowhere in this world system Sukhavati does one hear
of anything unwholesome, nowhere of the hindrances,
nowhere of the states of punishment, the states of woe and
the bad destinies, nowhere of suffering.” Burtt, p. 209
• In Pure Land it is easier to get to Nirvana. But why would
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anyone want to leave it for Nirvana?
Zen (Japan) Ch’an (China)
Buddhism or Universal Mind
• This school does not depend upon written texts,
but upon meditation.
• It teaches the goal of the union of self with the
Absolute, understanding that we have the nature
of Buddha. There is no sense of personal sin.
Offner, p. 186-87.
• Bodhitsattvas aren’t needed—we all have the
Buddha nature. Ignorance is (still) the problem.
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Zen (Japan) Ch’an (China)
Hsi Yun c. 840 AD
“The Master said to me: “All the Buddhas and all sentient being are
nothing but universal mind, besides which nothing exists. This mind,
which has always existed, is unborn and indestructible. It is neither green
nor yellow, and has neither form nor appearance. It does not belong to the
categories of things which exist or do not exist, nor can it be reckoned as
being new or old. It is neither long nor short, big nor small, but transcends
all limits, measures, names, speech, and every method of treating it
concretely. It is the substance that you see before you—begin to reason
about it and you at once fall into error. It is like the boundless void which
cannot be fathomed or measured. This universal mind alone is the
Buddha and there is no distinction between the Buddha and sentient
being, but sentient beings are attached to particular forms and so seek for
Buddhahood outside it. By their very seeking for it they produce the
contrary effect of losing it, for that is using the Buddha to seek for the
Buddha and using mind to grasp mind.” Burtt, p. 195-96
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Zen (Japan) Ch’an (China)
“Shen Hui’s Sermon on Sudden Awakening”
“Friends, all of you, each single one, possesses the nature
of a Buddha. The Good friends [the Bodhisattvas] do not
take the bodhi [enlightenment] of the Buddha and hand it
out to you, nor do they settle that [the Buddha] has already
foretold your destination, namely, that all the Beings are
from the beginning in Nirvana; from the beginning are they
endowed with the gift of immaculate wisdom. Why do they
not recognize this fact? [Why do they] wander in Samsara
and cannot attain salvation? Because their view is
obstructed by the dust of evil passions. They need the
direction of a good friend; then they will recognize [that they
are Buddhas], cease to wander, and attain salvation.” Burtt, p.
234
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Zen (Japan) Ch’an (China)
“Shen Hui’s Sermon on Sudden Awakening”
• “Use all your strength, my friends, so that you may attain
salvation by Sudden Awakening.”
• “There are Ch’an teachers who do not like Sudden
Awakening but want you to awaken [gradually] by using
the expedients that [the Buddhas] offer, but that is a
method good only for a very inferior type of Being.”
Burtt, p. 237
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Zen (Japan) Ch’an (China)
•
“…The Buddha who has always existed is not a Buddha of stages.
Only awake to universal mind, and realize that there is nothing
whatsoever to be attained. This is the real Buddha.”
• “Our original Buddha-nature is, in all truth, nothing which can be
apprehended. It is void, omnipresent, silent, pure; it is glorious and
mysterious peacefulness, and that is all which can be said.”
• “Even if you go through all the stages of a Bodhisattva’s progress
towards Buddhahood, stage by stage, when at last, by a single flash of
thought, you attain to full realization, you will only be realizing your
original Buddha-nature and by all the foregoing stages you will not
have added a single thing to it. You will merely regard those kalpas of
work and achievement as nothing but unreal actions performed in a
dream…”
Burtt, pp. 196-97
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Eclectic (T’ien-T’ai)
or Rationalist School
• It harmonizes all Buddhist teaching and all Buddhas,
teaching that Buddha revealed truth progressively,
according to the ability of students. Offner, p. 183
• Three Buddhist truths harmonized: (1 all is void, and has no
real substance [consist of dharmas or “transitory elements”]
(2 all things exist temporarily (3 all exist and are void
simultaneously Noss, p. 148, 160
• The huge Buddhist canon is culminated by the Lotus
Scripture.
– It teaches the unity of ultimate reality with the historical Buddha.
– It even teaches the union of an individual with the ultimate reality,
sounding very Hindu. Offner, p. 183
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Esoteric, Mystical, or True Word
School
• Influenced by Trantrism, it uses mandalas (picture charts),
liturgies, prayers, etc. to elicit aid from various Buddhas,
bodisattvas and goddesses. Noss, p. 162
• Buddha is part of everything (pantheism).
– This supreme Buddha is named Dainichi (Great Sun).
• It also teaches that Shinto deities were manifestations of
Buddha.
• It teaches special knowledge beyond the written canon,
including body movements, repeating words (mantras), and
forms of concentration. Offner, p. 184-85
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Puristic, Socio-political, or
Nichiren Buddhism (Japanese)
• This is a reform movement back to the teachings of
Buddha as found in the Lotus Scripture, which alone is
considered authoritative.
• They worship the mandala scroll, containing sacred
words.
– Repeating a phrase of praise to the Lotus scripture is said to
unite the personal soul to the Eternal Buddha Spirit. Offner, p. 187-
.
88
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Witnessing to a Buddhist
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Diagnosis
• Gently try to determine what the goal of the
person’s beliefs is, and how that person hopes to
achieve those goals.
– Is the goal Nirvana? Ask if you could relate your
understanding of heaven.
– What are the means of “salvation”? Share salvation by
faith in Christ alone, although not in a dogmatic tone.
– Share how God has transformed your life, and the
works of love He has done through you.
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Freedom from Saving Oneself
• “Buddhism has been well called the most radical system
of self-deliverance ever conceived in the world.”
– It takes many reincarnations to achieve and ultimately involves
abandonment of family. Bentley-Taylor,174
• Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me, all you who are weary
and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke
upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble
in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my
yoke is easy and my burden is light."
– We’re showing Buddhist true release and true deliverance.
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Life is a Blessing
• The goal of Buddhists is to escape the suffering of this life
and is basically life-denying. The aim is to escape the
multitude of rebirths to find a kind of cosmic equilibrium,
where there is no more self and no more pain.
– The Bible states that life, even after the Fall, is a blessing: Psalm
91:14, 16 "Because he loves me," says the LORD…. 16 With long life
will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."
– In Deuteronomy 6:1-2, obedience to God’s commands had a long
and enjoyable life as a reward.
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Deal With Individual Sin
• Buddha’s original teaching was a moral, as well as
a philosophical system. Ask if the Buddhist has
ever violated his beliefs. An honest one will admit to
this.
– How will the Buddhist deal with that sin, since there is no
forgiveness with karma?
• Instead of paying for sin in the next life, Christ offers
complete forgiveness, and heaven—conscious joy
forever, instead of union with a Void or a Buddha or
universal Reality.
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Personal Relationship with God
• We can have fellowship with a personal God,
because we have been created as individuals
with a purpose (Eph. 2:10). We are not to deny
our individuality, but as good stewards, to use the
unique gifts God has given to return much glory
to God (Mark 4:3-9).
– Instead of focusing upon a moral life of love to all,
without a solid philosophical foundation for doing so
(since individuals aren’t really real), we love others as
a reflection of and in obedience to, the God of love
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Church Planting Movement
• In Burma (Myanmar), a tribal group leader founded an
indigenous church-planting school, based upon a similar
Australian school (The Pines Training Center).
– Between 1996 and 2007 36 churches have been planted, having a
combined membership of 835 members (none from already existing
churches).
– The goal of each church is 200 members by 2020.
– All in the movement pray and fast on Fridays for evangelism.
– The annual cost of this movement is under $30,000 annually.
• Some support is given by Australian churches to meet that cost.
John Tanner, “A Story of Phenomenal Success: Indigenous Mission Training Centers
and Myanmar,” Evangelical Missions Quarterly, April 2009, pp. 152-157.
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